Adenotome having a flat cutting surface



Oct. 29, 1968 ABELSON ADENOTOME HAVING A FLAT CUTTING SURFACE Filed Aug. 13, 1965 I N VE N TOR. [cu/s lbs/son Y Ar/hur 4. Marc/7.

3,407,815 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 United States Patent Office 3,407,815 ADENOTOME HAVING A FLAT CUTTING SURFACE Louis Abelson, 585 McLean Ave., Yonkers, N.Y. 10705 Filed Aug. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 479,702 Claims. (Cl. 128-309) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A surgical adenotome having an elongated frame, a head member mounted thereon, a flexible cutting blade in the head member and a sliding member in the frame attached to the blade for actuating the same. The head member is composed of side walls, a bottom wall and a top wall having a tissue receiving opening. The top wall is substantially flat so that a substantially flat cutting surface is provided, whereby upon reception of body tissue therein, the cutting blade can be transversely moved across the opening to cut off the tissue cleanly thereby avoiding gouging or excess cutting of the tissue.

This invention relates to adenotomes and in particular to an improved adenotome having a substantially flat cutting surface.

Although the tonsillo-adenoidectomy is one of the most common surgical operations, it is by no means a matter of absolute safety to the patient. In spite of relatively good surgical technique, there has been no improvement for many years, even in trained hands, and emergency calls to the surgeon to the effect that the patient is bleeding from the nose and month are more commonthan one would desire. The cause of such excessive bleeding is frequently due to removal of excess tissue including muscle and fascia, in the prevertebral area at which the adenoidal tissue is removed. Adenotomes have hitherto had convex cutting surfaces which make it all to easy for the rounded blade to dig in and gouge excessively.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an adenotome which will avoid the excessive cutting characteristics of prior adenotomes.

Other objects will become apparent hereinafter.

The adenotome of the present invention comprises a handle and finger piaces of generally standard construction but with a cutting member having a substantially flat area where the actual cutting is done.

The invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter in connection with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows the adenotome of the present invention with the cutting blade retracted ready to make a cut;

FIG. 2 shows the adenotome of FIG. 1 with the cutting blade extended in a position that it would occupy after a out had been made;

FIG. 3 shows the cutting blade of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the adenotome; and

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the head of the adenotome of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The adenotome in FIG. 1 comprises a frame member 11 having two finger pieces 12 and 13 joined thereto, and a sliding member 14 movably attached to the frame 11 and provided with a slot 16 guided by a pin 17 extending therethrough and by such additional means as may be necessary to assure that the member 14 slides smoothly and precisely along the frame 11. A finger piece 18 is provided at the end of the member 14. In normal operation the finger piece 18 is engaged by the thumb of the surgeon and may more properly be referred to as a thumb piece.

At the other end of the frame 11 is a cutting head 19 having a window 21 in the forward, or cutting, surface 22 thereof. At each end the cutting surface 22 is rounded over, the top section being rounded as indicated by reference character 23 to join the frame 11 and the bottom section being rounded as indicated by referenc character 24. An end wall 26 is joined to the cutting surface 22 by side walls 27 to form therewith a pocket for receiving the severed tissue. Tracks 27a are provided with the inner side of the underwall and extends from near the bottom of section 24 to adjacent the top section 11 for the purposes hereinafter set forth.

FIG. 2 shows the adenotome after the thumb piece 18 has been forced forwardly toward the finger pieces 12 and 13, as would be done in making a cut. As may be seen, the window 21 has been covered with the cutting blade 28, which is attached to the member 14 by a pin 29.

The blade itself is shown in FIG. 3 where it is seen to have a forward cutting edge 31 and a hole 32 near the rear end thereof to attach to the pin 29. In addition the blade is foraminated in the area 33 to improve its flexibility.

The way in which the blade 28 is joined to the member 14 is more clearly shown in FIG. 4. The pin 29 which attaches the blade to the member 14 may be a screw or a rivet as desired. FIG. 4 also shows in greater detail the slot 16 and the alignment pin 17 co-operating therewith to keep the member 14 in alignment with the frame 11, so that the blade 28 will not be twisted aside. In addition, the edges 33 and 34 of either the frame '11 or a rear portion of the head 19 may be folded over to grasp the edges of the blade 28 and assist in holding it in alignment as it enters the head 19 and passes across the window 21. The movement of the blade 28 is guided by the track 27a in which it rides.

FIG. 5 shows the blade 28 pushed all the way into the head 19 so as to bend upwardly along the inner part of the surface 23 and the flat part of the cutting surface 22 and the outer curved end 24. The end wall 26 together with one of the side walls 27 and a track 27a also appear in FIG. 5. As may be seen, the blade .28 is pushed forward and is guided in the tracks 27a until the pin 29 almost touches the end wall 26.

In using the adenotome of the present invention the head 19 will be brought into position in the nasopharynx so that the instrument practically covers the whole surface of the adenoidal area. As a result, one or two sweeps of the instrument will practically remove all of the adenoidal tissue by engaging the bulk of the lymphoid tissue. Even if the operator exerts a force of twenty pounds against the adenoidal bed, the relatively large and substantially flat rectangular area of the present adenotome, will not cause excessive tissue to be removed and there will be a neater slice with less complications.

While this invention has been described in terms of a specific embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made therein without departing from the true scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adenotome comprising an elongated frame; a sliding member engaging said frame and moving guidedly therealong; a head comprising a substantially flat cutting surface and walls co-operating therewith to form a pocket and a flexible blade joined to said member to be moved longitudinally along said frame and into said head and across said cutting surface, said blade comprising a forward cutting edge transverse to the direction of motion of said blade.

2. An adenotome comprising an elongated frame; a sliding member engaging said frame and] moving guidedly therealong; a head comprising a substantially flat cutting surface and walls co-operating therewith to form a pocket, tracks disposed along the internal portion of said walls substantially parallel to the cutting surface and a flexible blade joined to said member to be moved longitudinally along said frame and into the tracks in said head and 3 across said cutting s urface, said blade comprising a for- \i ard cutting edge transverse to the direction of motion of said blade. j

3. An adenotome according to claim 1 wherein the blade is foraminated.

4. An adenotome according to claim 2 wherein the blade is forarninated.

5. An ade'notome according to claim 1 wherein the sliding member is guided by means of a pin extending through a longitudinal slot in the frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DALTON TRULUCK, Primary Examiner. 

